Business Email Compromise W-2 Scam

Tax Season is fraud season. It’s prime time for fraudsters and scammers looking to steal your personal and financial data.

Business Email Compromise W-2 Scam

Payroll and human resources professionals should be aware of a spearphishing email scheme that purports to be from company executives and requests personal information on employees. The email contains the actual name of the company chief executive officer. In this scam, the fake “CEO” sends an email to a company payroll office employee and requests a list of employees and financial and personal information including SSNs, or the employee is directed to click on a link or attachment infected with malware. The fraudster can then use the stolen tax data to file fraudulent returns.

Tip: If an employee receives an email requesting confidential personnel data in an email, even from upper management, they should immediately pick up the phone to verify the request. They should never click on links or attachments.